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Sober – feature film written and directed by Matthew Cooper – gets April 18 2025 release date.

Sober the movie - Dean Smith Tom Gibbons Sophie Powles

I’m pleased to announce that SOBER my comedy feature film starring Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax / Still Open All Hours) and Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow / The Archers) will be released on Good Friday – the 18th of April 2025 – free to view on YouTube.

You can watch the trailer here

SOBER has been a real labour of love and was made for a tiny budget of £7,000 and shot in nine days.

The film is set and shot in Leeds and the city is very much a love letter to my hometown.

 I’d like to thank everyone who pitched in and helped on the project, it wouldn’t have been made without the help and time of some many kind people (especially actors).

I hope everyone enjoys watching the film as much as Dean, Tom and myself enjoyed making it.

 And for those of you who like physical media – if you want to OWN ‘SOBER on DVD – you can preorder your copy of the film now on region free DVD disc – buying the disc will also directly support the Leeds lads who made the film (and who knows, it might even help fund a sequel).

CLICK HERE TO BUY Sober the movie DVD – Sober – The Movie

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

As a film director for hire he’s completed four innovate, low budget feature length horror movies including the recently acclaimed: H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

His latest feature film SOBER is near completion – a comedy starring Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax / Still Open All Hours) and Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow / The Archers) will be released in 2025.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.

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Sober the movie – count down to release…

Sober the movie, is nearing it’s release date this month…. Keep checking back because it’s dropping very soon…

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Sober – the movie – Directed by Matthew Cooper – incoming in April 2025

Huge news, massive and gigantic earth shattering news – my feature film SOBER is due for release in April 2025.

Sober was written by myself (based on a script that was originally written in 1998) and the two lead actors Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax / Still Open All Hours) and Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow / The Archers).

Dean, Tom and I are all Leeds born and bred, and fans of Leeds United.  The film is set in Leeds (and shot on location in Leeds) and features lot of Leeds United references (its set during the period that Marcello Bielsa was manager of Leeds).

We’re all hugely excited about the release of the film  – Sober was made entirely independently and shot on a budget of £7,000 which myself, Dean and Tom raised. So, all the shooting and postproduction budget was entirely supplied by the three guys who wrote it.

Sober is a comedy drama, and at times very funny, and very dramatic.   It’s my biggest project as a director so far – the film was shot (also by myself acting as camera and DOP) over a nine day period and has taken two years to finish. It’s also my first project which is comedy drama (my first four feature films have been in the horror genre).

I’m very excited to the see the audience reaction – the film has a lot of heart and is very tender in many ways.

A huge amount of the credit belongs to Dean Smith and Tom Gibbons who are amazing in the film as best mates, and really turned in a huge shift as actors / producers / co-writers and co-financers – the film would never have got anywhere with their unwavering commitment to the project (and belief in myself).

I’m truly humbled by how much faith they had in me as a director and partner.

The film will be released entirely on YouTube (in April) – so free to view for anyone who’ll be interested in watching.  We don’t know the exact date yet – but keep checking back for more information.

Here’s some images from the film:

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire and UK script consultant for over 25 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted, and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

As a film director for hire he’s completed four innovate, low budget feature length horror movies including the recently acclaimed: H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

His latest feature film SOBER is near completion – a comedy starring Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax / Still Open All Hours) and Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow / The Archers) will be released in 2025.

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Launch of new AI FILM STUDIO – GENERATIVE AI VIDEO PRODUCTION COMPANY

Two quick bits of AI generative video news.

I recently released the feature length horror movie H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth  – the micro-budget horror film has gone down with a storm on YouTube, with 10,000 views in month or less, and lots of enthusiastic comments and fans appearing online to sing the praises of a film which was made with a budget of less than a £1,000 and  shot mostly over a handful of days.

The film was made in conjunction with my production company Warehouse Transmedia, and one of the elements of post-production was the use of generative ai video – which was a fast and cheap way to add production value but also assist the best telling of the story (without the need to use expensive CGI). 

Launch of new AI FILM STUDIO – GENERATIVE AI VIDEO PRODUCTION COMPANY

The use of generative AI video for the film, has convinced myself and some partners that Ai video, can be used to tell stories in a cost effective and efficient manner.  This has led to myself and Warehouse Transmedia launching our own AI film and video studio – All our work going forward will harness new generative AI technology to make films, series and video content.

We intend to push the limits of new AI video technology as a storytelling tool.

Keep an eye on the Warehouse Transmedia blog for more info – we do have a slate of feature film projects and series projects that will begin production in 2025.

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

As a film director for hire he’s completed four innovate, low budget feature length horror movies including the recently acclaimed: H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

His latest feature film SOBER is near completion – a comedy starring Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax / Still Open All Hours) and Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow / The Archers) will be released in 2025.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.

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H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Directed by Matthew Cooper – due for release on 1 December 2024 – free to view on YouTube…

Feature length micro budget horror film, free to view on my YouTube channel from 1st December. www.youtube.com/@matcoop
All SFX in this were created using AI tools Runway and LumaLab and others. AI was used in the edit, and sound post production also.
The film couldn’t have been completed to such a high standard without the use of AI tech.
Thanks to Tony Coughlan and Ashe Russell for doing the hard yards acting (the live action portion of the feature length film was shot in 4 days and 2 nights).
Filmed on location in Staithes and Whitby in North Yorkshire.
Based on the famous story ‘The Shadow Over Innsmouth’ by H.P Lovecraft who has a passionate fan base across the world and especially online.

Total budget under £2,000. The film is designed to generate engagement and subscribers to my YouTube channel, where we host three other Lovecraft based microbudget feature films which are generating 1000s of views per month, with excellent long form viewer retention figures.

We have more Lovecraft themed features currently gearing up to shoot and next year we’re making a slasher horror feature at Whitby Goth Festival, using the festival and it’s passionate fan base and backdrop as a key element of the film.

We’re self financed, but open to approaches from producers, broadcasters or distributors, but not dependent on them. I’m also personally open to (and currently very busy with) scriptwriting commissions or consultancy work.

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Sober – the comedy film shot in Leeds – about to arrive on your screens very soon.

In coming!

Sober (2024) is the new comedy film set in Leeds and starring Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow) and Dean Smith (Waterloo Road / Still Open all Hours).

We shot the film back in April 2023 in nine days and for the past 18 months it’s been in post-production as I worked around other script writer for hire and UK script consultant gigs

As of today at the end of July 2024 – the film is about to be locked visually and sent off to the composer.

The film is without doubt, the biggest achievement of my filmmaking and scriptwriter career – all the more because the total budget of the film was below £10,000 and the film is based on script originally written in 1998 at the very start of my filmmaking life.

The script has changed drastically over the years – but the original intention to create a laugh out loud comedy drama has been preserved.

The two lead actors – who co-wrote and co-produced the film have been instrumental in my finally realising this project as a feature film – and getting it over the line. And both the performances of the lead actors show a lot of courage and heart – and belief in the project, so much so that they helped co-finance it with me.

So, now begins the build up to how we get this film released and shown to the general public.

Keep watching this space.

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller ‘Markham’ was released in 2020, his second feature film as director ‘At The Mountains Of Madness’ hit the screen in 2021 and his third horror feature film (and final part of The Sekurig Trilogy) When The Earth Gives Up The Dead (2022) was released on Halloween 2022.

Matthew has recently directed ‘H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth’ which is currently in post-production. 

His latest feature film SOBER is near completion – a comedy starring Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax / Still Open All Hours) and Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow / The Archers) will be released in 2024.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.

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Sober – shooting now

This is just a quick update to say I’m currently shooting the comedy feature film Sober.

The shoot will end in mid-April – I’ll update regular readers about this project once we’ve completed with the shoot.

Thanks,

Mat

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When the Earth Gives up The Dead – coming soon…

I’m currently deep in post production on When the Earth Gives up the Dead (2022) – which will be out later this year… For now, he’s a few taster images from the film (which is the most amazing looking thing I’ve ever worked on)…

Keep checking back for more news…

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller ‘Markham’ was released in 2020, his second feature film as director ‘At The Mountains Of Madness’ hit the screen in 2021. You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb. Matthew is also a  judge in the Page Turner Awards 2022.

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When the Earth Gives up the Dead (2022) – last leg of the shoot commences and STOP MOTION starts in earnest

Shooting the Dead

When the Earth Gives up the Dead (2022) the last part of my low budget Lovecraft trilogy restarts shooting this weekend – with four days on location and two days in a green screen /chroma key studio.

The first portion of the film was shot late last year – with 30 minutes of footage post-produced and in the BAG already, so to speak.

I had to take a break from shooting over Christmas as I landed a huge scriptwriting assignment in my other job as a script writer for hire.  The scriptwriting work looks like it’s all signed off for now (it’s on a £10m fully funded feature to be shot in Ireland). I’m really looking forward to getting back behind the camera and working with the enthusiastic cast again over the coming weeks.

This film, will also feature some actually bona fide Stop Motion animation in a tribute to the late great Ray Harryhausen.

I’ll be hands on with stop motion myself and I’ve built a little scale-set up in my studio. That means post production on the film will be an extended process as we work literally hands-on to get the special effects right.

Keep checking back, in the coming weeks I’ll update the blog to let readers know how the shoot and SFX process is getting along.

Stop motion

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller ‘Markham’ was released in 2020, his second feature film as director ‘At The Mountains Of Madness’ hit the screen in 2021. You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.

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Shooting now on When The Earth Gives Up The Dead…

When The Earth Gives Up The Dead (2022) the latest feature film from Matthew Cooper Director is currently shooting.

The film will be the third in a low budget horror trilogy based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft.

As you can see from the photos we’re having a BLOODY good time making this one.

As a director Matthew Cooper likes to run a efficient, creative and fun set, and these days we keep an eye on our carbon footprint when shooting too, and look to minimise pollution and waste too.

The film is due for release summer 2022 – keep checking back for more info…

Matthew Cooper has been a scriptwriter for hire and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

Matthew is also a director of feature films including the rubber reality horror thriller ‘Markham’ which was released in 2020. Matthew’s second feature film as director ‘At The Mountains Of Madness’ was released in July 2021.

You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here and find his broadcast credits on the IMDb here.